Animaccord’s internationally cherished children’s animation property Masha and the Bear has reached another milestone by hitting 100 billion views worldwide on YouTube.
The unusual BFF duo have also blown through one million years of watch time and counts for 1,000 views per second. In addition, five of the cartoon’s channels – English, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese and Ukrainian – achieved the YouTube Creator Award Diamond Play Button.
“We are very pleased to see how YouTube is helping creative economies grow. Masha and the Bear (came) a long way from being a national hit to becoming a global phenomenon in the world of digital family content,” commented YouTube country lead for Russia Anna Danishevskay. “This is a great example of a project that brings real value to creators and viewers; through our platform Animaccord was able to significantly popularise the Russian animation industry and bring together children and parents from all over the world.”
Masha and the Bear and YouTube have risen to the top simultaneously – establishing the show’s online presence during YouTube’s early stages was key to its success today. Animaccord was one of YouTube’s first rights holders, as it forecasted its potential to offer visibility and distribution opportunities to children’s animation on a global scale. YouTube is one of the world’s largest online media platforms, enabling the global distribution of animated content to households around the world.
When it comes to weighing Masha and the Bear‘s accomplishments as a YouTube sensation, the magnanimity doesn’t end at views and watch time. The show’s audience is expanding rapidly: In the last year, the English-language YouTube channel has more than doubled its subscribers, now encompassing over 28 million loyal viewers. The series also holds the Guinness World Record for the most watched cartoon on YouTube, with over 4.4 billion views and counting. The beloved series was also recently named the #1 most in-demand preschool show worldwide.
Masha and the Bear was released in January 2009 and the show has been translated into 42 languages.